The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1887-07-28
FORT WORTH.
Greatest Popular Demonstration
Ever Held in the State--5O,ooo
People Present.
All Sections of Texas Represented
in the Process1on--Prohlbition-
lists Concede Defeat.
snocisl Telegram to the Statesman.

special Telegram 10 Ine Otdte5lnbu'
FoRT WORTH, July 26-The grandest
demonstration ever witnessed in Texas
is truthful statement when applied to
the anti prohibition rally in Fort Worth
to-day. Such men as Congressman Mills,
Sayers, Abbott, Grain and Kilgore; Treas
urer Lubbock, Attorney general Hogg,
Seth Shepard, D. G. Giddings and Captain
S. P. Ross, the venerable father of our
governor, make this statement backed by
thousands of others. There were in Fort
Worth to-day twenty thousand strangers,
at a fair estimate, and old army men
place the crowd on the grounds at one
time as high as fifty thousand people.
Long before day the streets were
crowded with people, while merchants
were busy putting the finishing touches to
the decorations. Nine bands of music,
chief of which were the San Antonio
Eighth Cavalry band, furnished the
music. At o'clock the procession began
forming. The parade was
REVELATION.
Voters we're in line who had come from
Ell Paso and Texarkana, Galveston, San
Antonio and Denison, Tyler and Wichita
Falls. The entire state was represented.
Dallas county had sixteen hundred men
in line. Tarrant had mounted delega-
tions numbering eight hundred from the
country precincts, with 1900 city people
in line. Van zandt county, headed by
Congressman Kilgore, had four hundred
men. McLenna lied by General Robertson,
Roger @. Mills, showed up six hundred
men.
The procession was forty-five minutes
passing given point. Capt. s. P. Ross,
with Capt. George B. Erath, George b.
Jones, ]. G. Pendleton, l.. Leonard and
VIM. Walker, all
TEXAS VETERANS,
aged from II to SO years, headed the pro-
cession. These men had fought for
Texas freedom in the war for independ-
ence, the Mexican and the Indian wars.
AS they passed, the crowds that lined the
streetssbroke into tumultuous cheering
The colored voters from all over the state
were in line, and there was no distinction
made in regard to them They marched
in line with their delegations, sandwiched
in between their white friends.
The sturdy farmers in line were another
feature of the parade. Many handsome
banners were in line; among them, por-
traits of Sam Houston and Governor Ross.
The former was carried by
THE TITUS GIANT.
At the grounds two stands were erected,
and speakers occupied both at the same
time, and then the crowd was large
enough to have been distributed among
eight or ten more.
At one stand the first speaker was Roger
@. Mills. At this stand the other speakers
were State Treasurer Lubbock, Judge j.
A. Carroll, and Melvin Wade, colored,
from Dallas. Governor Lubbock read
letter from
JEFF DAVIS,
addressed to him, taking strong ground
against prohibition. Every sentence was
applauded to the echo.
At the other stand were Seth Shepard,
Hon. Joseph d. Sayers, Attorney general
Hogg and W. w. Spivey. Congressman
Sayers delivered very forcible speech.
At dinner 262 head of beeves, goats
sheep and hogs, and IA, 900 loaves of bread
were eaten.
Attorney-general Hogg read a letter
from
GOVERNOR ROSS.
In it he says:
81 rejoice in your movement, and have